Our First P-Day (Or Half a P-Day)

Our Trip to San Felipe del Morro 

On Saturday, June 28, we woke up early and drove to Old San Juan on the peninsula. It took us about a half hour to get there because the traffic was really light at 8:30 on Saturday morning. When we reached the end of the peninsula we could see what looked like a fort and a park. We found a parking garage and walked across the park towards the fort. Click here for more information about El Morro.

The park used to be used as a golf course when the fort was actively used by the military. In recent years, the NPS has worked to convert the grass area to look more like it would have during the time the fort was actively used. A few people were out flying kites. It was very windy.

To the right of the park right by the ocean there was a cemetery

This is a view of the park from outside of the fort.

The fort was first built by the Spanish in the early 1500s to protect San Juan Harbor. Over the next 200 years, Spain expanded the fort to the size it is today. It is definitely one of the most impressive structures I have ever visited. 

The Atlantic Ocean looked pretty rough. The Caribbean side of the island is supposed to be much calmer.

The walls were very thick.

A bronze cannon.

A stairway down to one of the lower levels.

John in front of one of the larger walls.

John in front of another impressive fortress wall.

Sentry stations like this are positioned all around the fort. They have now become a symbol of Puerto Rico.

By another cannon.

John in front of another fortress wall.

This is a triangular staircase down to one of the lower levels. The fort contained areas for housing and many different daily activities just like a castle.

The lighthouse has changed a lot over the years. Some people feel that the paint doesn't actually match the rest of the fort, but the park ranger says that it was painted when it was in its original state.

We ate lunch in a Chinese restaurant in San Juan. We didn't have time to walk around the narrow streets of San Juan on this trip because we had to be back at the office by 1:30, but we hope to return soon. 

The Mission Office

Where We Will Be Working:

View from the front door. It is just a bunch of cubicles, desks, and cupboards.
a remodel is scheduled for the near future.

The mission office is located in a former meeting house in Bayamon. It also holds the Facilities Management Office, the Employment and Self-Reliance Office, and has a large cultural hall for meetings. We haven't spent a lot of time there yet because the current office elders who will tell us what we need to do have been pretty busy getting ready for the new mission president.

Our Mission Office Building

John is in charge of housing and vehicles. I am doing office work and will also help with inspecting and setting up and moving out of apartments. One of the office elders is in charge of finances. It's amazing to see a twenty year old pay all the bills, deal with landlords, make travel arrangements, buy and sell cars, maintain cars, and everything else. He is helping John figure out the housing and vehicles. 

Cultural Hall

View from the back of the office.

Arriving in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Our Long Trip:
We left Eden, Utah at 3:30 am for our 6 am flight to Dallas where we would be connecting to a 12:45 flight from Dallas to San Juan. We got on the flight to Dallas without any problems, but then because of thunder storms we were sent to Austin instead. While there, the plane had to have a mechanical issue fixed so we had to get off the plane. We waited for just under an hour and then got back on and headed to Dallas. We went to our gate to see if we had missed our connection. We were over an hour late despite our long layover, but thought the connection would be late, too. We ran to our next gate and were told that the plane had already left and that we would need to take the 4:45 flight. We ate lunch and then saw on the departure board that it was just leaving so we could have made it! It wasn't on the departure board when we first looked. After three more planes having mechanical issues and switching to three different terminals, we finally took off at 9 pm CDT. The flight didn't seem too long and we arrived in San Juan about 3:30 am. The office elders picked us up because President Zwick had a early meeting the next morning. They dropped us off at our new apartment about 4:30 am.  A 24 hour trip! Here are pictures of the apartment:


Our Apartment in Bayamon:

This bedroom is now a storage room for the furniture and supplies from another apartment. We had to clean out the apartment of a senior couple who had left and we need to store the items until the next couple comes and moves into a different apartment.

We have two spare bedrooms. We put the bed from the other apartment in here, but I don't think anyone will be visiting before we have to give it to a new senior couple.

Our laundry room.

Our room and our first load of laundry. We have a small air conditioner we use at night.

Our apartment is on the bottom floor and our car is the Cruze on the right.

This is the view from outside our apartment. We are in a very commercial area. There aren't many residential streets in this area.

This is our street right outside the entrance to the complex.

There is a soccer'stadium/basketball arena right across from our apartment complex. One of the members of the Metro Ward (English speaking) plays for the basketball team.